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Supercharger Locations

Supercharger Locations

Submitted by DanD on Tue, 2012-12-11 00:17

Since the announcement of Superchargers on Sept. 25, I've not seen any mention anywhere about detailed plans or installations of Supercharger stations outside the first few that are still prominent on the web site.

In the Motor Trend announcement they were talking about Milford Ct. and Wilmington DE. Did those happen?

It's time to start thinking about 2013 vacation plans and it'd be nice to know if the East Coast will have stations (or anywhere else for that matter).

TINO F |
31 décembre 2012

bobinfla -- you have remember that Tesla is a California company. That's why the first 6 supercharges it that state. Eventually, they will make it possible for a West Coast / East Coast trek, and for free. Tessa's feather in their cap.

dstiavnicky |
31 décembre 2012

TDurden1990
Glad you enjoyed a good laugh... I guess it was a bit of a stretch ;)

One other point, California taxpayers are funding $100 Million for electric charging stations. Maybe they are also a very progressive state.

Article says the 100 million came from a lawsuit against energy companies not from taxes. Unclear whether the charging stations will support super fast charging.

Brian H |
1 janvier 2013

I heard that TM/SCity have gear and crews ready to go, but are having to squeeze through local knotholes. Let's start a rumor that gas stations and companies are trying to block the permitting. It might even be true!

joshwetzel |
2 janvier 2013

Just took a trip from Bay Area to Los Angeles (and back) with my Model S and exclusively used the supercharger stations. Here are my high level comments for those looking for practical feedback (vs. hypothetical location info - which I appreciate too :)

Process: Literally you pull up (need to make sure your car charging port is as close as possible to charging cord as they are generally not very long), get out of your car, pull the Tesla Supercharger out, push the button at the end of the charger (similar looking to your own home/mobile charger input) and your charge port opens, and you stick it in.

I'd recommend that Tesla formally creates some etiquette around the superchargers, as I came across multiple owners who were charging their batteries to the very top (100% full) which resulted in longer than normal waits at Harris Ranch (more on this below). Other than that the process is easy and these stations are GAME CHANGERS imo. There needs to be more education on how the supercharger is meant to be a quick source of 150 mile infusions to owners batteries, b/c the top end (full charge) requires a LOT more charge time and from what I experienced with other owners (who wanted to fully "top off") it resulted in folks spending 1+ hours clogging up chargers.

Stations: I used Tejon, Harris Ranch, Gilroy and have visited Folsom as well.
Tejon - this is by far the best station (also the model photo on Tesla's supercharger page) b/c there are 6 spots (only 4 operational today) covered by solar panels; and within 300 yards there are (Chipotle, In-N-Out, Starbucks, convenience store and other food options). These appear to all be 90kwh output chargers too - this is a BIG plus.
Harris Ranch - this is currently a bottleneck for north / south trips as there is only 1 charging port. On my way down I had to only wait 20 minutes but I was lucky as right behind me another two model s vehicles arrived (presumably the last car there had to wait approximately 1.5 hours longer than if there was no line).
Gilroy - the location of these is great (behind In-N-Out / Sony outlet store; 100's of outlet stores and other food within a thousand yards) however it appears only 2 of the 4 charging stations were of the 90kwh variety, the others were apparently 45kwh.
Folsom - when I was here only 1 station was operational however they were in the process of installing 3 more. Similar to Gilroy, these are at the outlet mall just off highway 50 (on the way to South Lake Tahoe) with plenty of shopping & food options within a short walk.

Overall I'm extremely proud to be a Tesla Model S owner, Tesla as a company is pushing the envelope in so many ways and these supercharger stations are a prime example of it. The fact that I could drive nearly 400 miles each way (in luxury & performance) in nearly the same timeframe a ICE vehicle can make it is incredible. Yes there are LOTS of things to work out and even little items on my car that need to be tweaked (ie my passenger side mirror is not operational :( but this company is going in the right direction and helping push a revolution to more efficient, cleaner and the most enjoyable driving experience on the road. Thank you!

jat |
2 janvier 2013

@joshwetzel - regarding etiquette, from reading trip blogs, it sounds like those people charged to near 100% because they had to have the range to reach their next stop. Maybe you want to separate the chargers so some are reserved for short chargers, but I don't think you want to require people to not charge to 100% if they need it. I do hope they were using the 45kW chargers where some were slower, since the charge rate drops off as you get a higher charge.

cprenzl |
2 janvier 2013

Tesla Don't forget about the midwest!(chicago) you need to add one around bloomington/normal IL VERY EV friendly actually called EVTOWN, That would support the St. Louis to Chicago corridor. Also you could branch out from there, IE: Indianapolis, st. louis- rockford, Cincinnati, louisville. Or further. I would also suggest outside of Indianapolis. 5 interstates pass through Normal IL, Great place to make connections, Springfield, Champaign, and Peoria. Need more superchargers

William9 |
3 janvier 2013

Having just completed a trip between Northern Calif and Tucson, I know about needing a Range charge. What occurred to me in Barstow, where I absolutely needed to squeeze everything I could into Tess, was that the last 10-20 miles of range shows as using only 12 and under amps. Would seem to me that having a couple of 14-50 plugs available would allow you to move off the SC to a 14-50 with no real difference in charging time.

DTsea |
3 janvier 2013

Seems like Tesla is looking at where they deliver the cars and installing the superchargers as the density of Model S owners justifies them. This seems rational.

I talked about this with a business school buddy of mine. The AHA moment is this:

Other manufacturers know how many cars DEALERS have ordered but not where the CARS go. Tesla knows exactly where EVERY car is based. So, they can match supercharger capacity to demand. Very cool.

Interesting to see that lines are already starting to form at superchargers. In a year when there are 20000 model S in the US, everyone will see why there are NOT superchargers in cities. You would need many, many positions to satisfy the desire for free daily charging.

From what I have read, California has very expensive electricity, too. This would increase the incentive to maximize supercharging for the Model S owners. Here in WA state, our power is cheap, so charging at home is very economical.

DTsea |
3 janvier 2013

The other thing Tesla can do- who knows if they are doing this- is decide to prioritize deliveries by how ready Tesla is to support the car (ie when service centers and/or superchargers are in place) OR they could drive the other way (deliver where there is demand and then put in the infrastructure.

The former better protects the customer service experience (ie avoid lots of cars very far from service center and super heavy Ranger use); the latter preserves the sense of fairness (deliveries in sequence order).

djp |
3 janvier 2013

Some of the long lines may be locals topping off. I predict the time will come when you won't be allowed to use a SC within, say 100 miles of your home base.

jkirkebo |
3 janvier 2013

Tesla could install a couple of HPWCs at each site and shut off supercharging after 90% SOC or so. Or where it falls below 10kW. This could actually be configured per car, ie. shut down supercharging at 10kW if single charger and at 20kW if twin chargers.

This would also help 40kWh owners to go a little further.

KMN |
3 janvier 2013

The first thing that needs to be done is to fix the bottleneck at Harris Ranch. 4 bays in Gilroy to the north, 4 in Tejon to the south, 1 at Harris? C'Mon, Man!

Michael_Bluth |
3 janvier 2013

I went for a run at lunch time around Fedex Field (Redskins stadium). They have an 8000 panel solar array that supposedly provides a certain amount on game days, then completely supplies the stadium for the rest of the week (2 MW reported). NRG Energy set it up. Plenty of evgo charging stations around, and more under the array - serves as a covered parking lot.
If this is even a fraction of the scale that Solar City and Tesla have in mind, I'm sure they can add multiple charging ports at each SC station.

DanD |
28 janvier 2013

Would love to know more about the Fedex field charging. That's conveniently on I-95.

But the real question is that it's been 4 months now since the supercharger announcement. Other than the two on the East Coast, anything else?

As another owner suggested, to make it to 100 in 2013, Tesla would have to be opening one every 3.5 days.

rhegg |
5 février 2013

What about supercharger stations along I-95 from Baltimore to Miami? What are the plans for this route and what would be the timing (2013, 2014)for this installation?

DanD |
5 février 2013

That's the problem rhegg, nobody knows the plan.

It's a problem because owners and future owners can't plan into the future.

There's no strategic reason not to announce a plan. It's not like there's a worry about competition. And because there's no reason not announce, we have to worry that there isn't really anything more than vapor (a single slide in a Powerpoint presentation with dots on it).

This just can not be rocket science. Thousands of chargers are already set up across the country so sure there is a deployment model to follow.

Heck Tesla owners have even offered to sponsor Superchargers (this charge brought to you by .....).

There are a lot of things I don't get about Tesla (why is my navigation system so primitive?). What I think it comes down to is either the hubris to think they can do it all themselves, or the lack of capacity to partner to expand the offering.

nickjhowe |
5 février 2013

@rhegg - The only concrete info I have is from a conversation I had with George B in Miami. His stated goal was for someone to be able to travel from South Miami (Homestead) to North Orlando, and from S Miami to Naples. That would mean a super charger near Port St Lucie, and Fort Myers.

He has a home in Miami, so it should be on the priority list. :-)

Brian H |
5 février 2013

DanD;
False. TM does not know where it can get adequate siting yet, and announcing general plans always creates massive expectations and demands. People were trying to take the programmer's random guesses on the sample map as commitments!

kalikgod |
5 février 2013

Telsa also has a job posting for a Senior Project Manager to develop the SuperCharger Network. I am guessing progress will speed up after that position is filled.

info |
5 février 2013

I picked up my car at the factory on Saturday and set out for my home in Western Orange County (373 miles). Because there was a large delivery crowd, I was sent off from Fremont with 206 miles in the tank. I easily made Harris Ranch. Now it gets funny. I had seen the pictures of the SuperCharging station and expected a big TESLA tower with 6 bays of charging. The navigation screen said that the charger was on my right and I looked and didn't see anything but a Shell station and a Subway. I drove around twice and couldn't see anything that looked like the picture. Finally I got out and asked someone and I was pointed to the charging station which is actually just a pole in the ground.

There is a large sign that says, IF YOU LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE, LEAVE YOUR CELL PHONE NUMBER SO YOU CAN BE CONTACTED. This is hard to believe but the guy who had parked his car there took about an hour in a restaurant. When he saw me there, he told me he didn't have a cell phone so he couldn't leave a number. I waited about 45 minutes for him to appear. When he finally figured out how to put the car in reverse, charging went smoothly. I got about 200 miles on the gauge and then another car pulled up. I stopped charging and let the new guy in.

I arrived at Tejon Ranch and that looks like the photo. There was no one else there and I took a dinner break and charged to 200+ in about 45 minutes.

When I got to the LA area I stopped at the Hawthorne facility. The navi system directs you to a locked gate, but the entrance is around the back and easy to get to. When I arrived there was the Tesla Tower and 6 bays but only two have chargers and when the first bay is occupied, the second gets a minimal charge. I had to use the second bay because the first bay was occupied by a guy who apparently was deaf because he had his radio so loud that my ears hurt. When I realized I was only getting 8mph of charge, I left. I went back the next day to try things out and the first pump put out 280 mph, and I took a 1/2 hour charge to 240.

It's a great system and easy to use but you have to be prepared to wait. I drove to San Francisco last year and the round trip was $220 in gas. Coming back from Oakland/Fremont the cost was zero, and the wait was part of the learning curve.

gregv64 |
5 février 2013

Harris ranch is a known problem that is meant to be fixed soon with a real supercharger station.

gregv64 |
5 février 2013

As far as their plans, while we may not know the exact locations, we know their intentions, and there are some things that are so obvious they are a 100% certainty. Interstate 95 Miami to New York, 100%. Interstate 5 San Diego to Seattle 100%. Interstate 80 San Francisco to New York 100%. Texas triangle and Interstate 40 is probably a given as well. Where exactly on these corridors the chargers will be depends a lot on what deals Tesla comes up with, and they don't really know (but I'm not sure it matters). Timing is the bigger question, and there they presumably have a much better idea than we do, but don't want to commit to anything. In the future I'd probably prefer expected opening dates once a deal is inked and construction begins rather than the current practice of announcing them after they are operational.

gregv64 |
5 février 2013

(correction, actually I meant interstate 95 from Miami to Maine)

dave.w.finn |
5 février 2013

I would like to see supercharge stations on Interstate I95 and I26 in South Carolina. The electric utilities (SCE&G and Santee Cooper (public utility)) are fighting this in the state legislature because it infringes on them. It is up to the state legislature or the feds to correct this.

Dave

nickjhowe |
5 février 2013

@Kalikgod - George B told me that they are location constrained right now. They have more capacity to build out locations than they have approved locations, so the new PM probably won't speed it up that much.

I'm not sure if this was mentioned on this thread since I haven't read the whole thread...

When I took my trip from SF peninsula to Socal, I met an electrician at the Tejon Ranch SC. He was bringing a few more SC on line there. I spoke to him about the situation at Harris Ranch - there being only one SC available. He said that he is contracted to start installing a 10 bay supercharger at Harris Ranch starting in February (this was mid January). He expected it to be completed by early May, this year.

So, for those of you having to wait at Harris Ranch (like me when there were already 2 Model S when I drove up), after May there would likely be no wait as long as all 10 bays are up and running.

Darmok |
11 février 2013

Primm, Nevada. Barstow-Las Vegas is 160 miles, or longer depending on your destination in town. With frequent cold weather over the pass, a charger before Las Vegas will be needed for travel to and from L.A., especially for 60 kWh owners.

mbcaffe |
11 février 2013

@blephneiben
+1
did not take my 60 kkWh to Vegas this weekend.

Darmok |
11 février 2013

@mbcaffe, I'm driving the 60 home to Vegas from Fremont this weekend, and might be on whatever the electrical equivalent of fumes is by the time I hit the driveway, even with a range charge at the Barstow SC. A Primm SC would be very handy.

Brian H |
11 février 2013

Cut your speed by 5 mph and you'll add lots of margin.

chester |
14 février 2013

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE build a charging station somewhere along the I-4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando. I live in Sarasota (where atleast 4 Model S currently reside) and frequently commute to Orlando. Florida is a GREAT market for Tesla. Beautiful weather and wealth are in abundance down here - the two most important factors in Tesla ownership.

village33 |
15 février 2013

While I think the road trip thing is silly since few people do it regularly, if Tesla wants to climb this mountain in addition to the achievement the S is on its own as a non-long-road-trip car, they may want to think about two things as improvements: (1) make first routes like DC-Boston/SF-LA "idiot proof" before making new routes just "doable"; (2) consider possible differences in range anxiety in different markets (see below).

As a layperson without data, on the west coast it strikes me that people are more concerned with traffic/range from some city (eg SF) to some far away rural place. While on the east coast, from my experience, the anxiety comes mostly from traveling from one quasi suburban place to another like place *through* a city (eg NYC and even DC/Boston). I have range anxiety all the time trying to make it through NYC in my ICE vehicle. Therefore to "idiot proof" this route, I would think Tesla would be well served "book-end" these pass-through cities with superchargers (eg 15-20mi or where open to the N and S of NYC, S of Boston and N of DC ... Later E of NYC, W of Boston and W of DC). While this would slow supercharger deployment elsewhere (given finite resources), building confidence on the first routes would likely be a far greater service to Tesla than having more "doable" routes initially.

Tâm |
18 février 2013

Did you notice new much welcome amenities at Hawthorne Supercharger :)

Pack your own meals! A garbage can and two outdoor benches have been added:

Look! You don't have to hold your bladder after hours any more. New toilet trailer is now 24 hours :)

Thanks so much Tesla!!!

jat |
19 février 2013

@village33 - all the owners who aren't on that path may disagree. It seems better to give the most use to the most people with each new supercharger deployment. Sometimes that will require synergy between multiple locations, but a few here and there would make things much easier for those nearby.

Neech |
19 février 2013

I don't have my car yet, but how much energy/charge is used up sitting in traffic jams? I am thinking not much since the car is not moving, therefore, less power is needed. Would the slow creeping along on the Chicago highways during rush hour be a concern?

Brian H |
19 février 2013

Not just less, but almost none (other than heating and radio, etc.) An ICE car can idle itself empty, while an EV is hardly effected at all. The motor does not need to keep spinning to keep warm.

In very cold weather, the battery would have to warm itself somewhat. But there's not much "work" being done, so the load is much lower than for making a engine tick over.

jat |
19 février 2013

@Neech - basically 100W for running the computer equipment, plus whatever you use for lights, HVAC, radio, etc - of these heating/cooling are the primary ones to worry about. That doesn't mean that it is good to be sitting stopped in traffic, as you are still burning energy without moving forward, but it does mean you don't waste as much.

DanD |
19 février 2013

There are other little things Tesla can do like keeping up a directory of hotels with EV charging access or helping to integrate one of the charge locator sites into the navigation system.

gregv64 |
19 février 2013

Just to be clear though, if the weather is really cold the heater will definitely be eating up range sitting in traffic jams, and your wH/mile will be really high. Just saying "other than heating" isn't really fair. But still, definitely not a worry for commute distances.

Neech |
19 février 2013

+Glad to hear long traffic jams would not eat up much energy. I could easily turn down the heat, but need the radio to keep me from expressing any road rage that might build up ;)

drp |
19 février 2013

Radio runs off the 12v battery as do some other things

Brian H |
20 février 2013

drp;
true, but it's best to think of that as a buffer. All the power ultimately derives from the drive battery. There's no separate charging mechanism or path for the 12V in normal operation.

mauterin |
20 février 2013

I was a little disappointed that the 4th quarter shareholder letter was vague on future Superchargers. "Construction planning is underway to install additional Superchargers in 2013. Our plan is to expand
coverage on the U.S. West and East Coasts, and around the rest of the country." I had heard 90 new SC in the US by the end of the year at the Santa Monica store.

Pungoteague_Dave |
20 février 2013

mauterin - it is TM policy to not telegraph where and when Superchargers will be located. They do not want to be pestered or held to specfic location before they cut the real estate deal, or to a schedule that they end up missing. Therefore, the pattern is to give general numbers and regions, then get the individual SC sites up and running first, and then announce them. That is smart as no one gets dissapointed.

drp |
20 février 2013

+1 PDave

And the real estate does not skyrocket and the electricians bid for the job so costs are minimized

Brian H |
20 février 2013

Did you miss the bit about a step change in the speed of charging? The NYT article was going to be about that till Broder got it.

mlemke |
23 février 2013

@blephneiben how did it go? Considering doing a factory pickup and driving home to Henderson.